Recap of the WSOP-Circuit Harrah's New Orleans Ring Events

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

May 17, 2011 3 min read

For the past week and a half, the World Series of Poker Circuit has been at Harrah’s New Orleans for the last stop of the 2010-2011 season. Currently, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team is just off Bourbon Street reporting on the $1,600 Main Event. Of course, the winner of that tournament will win an automatic seat in the National Championship coming up in just a couple of weeks. Furthermore, that event will be followed by the $10,000 Regional Championship, which awards seats to the National Championship to everyone who make the final table.

Each WSOP Circuit stop hosts ten gold-ring events. Players can earn National Leaderboard points, based upon their performance in those events, and hopefully accumulate enough to qualify for the National Championship. In addition, the player who earns the most points at each stop (the "Casino Champion") automatically qualifies for that event. Right now in New Orleans, that player looks to be Brian Walsingham. He has racked up 100 points by taking down two of the ring events (Event #4 $355 No-Limit Hold’em & Event #8 $1,085 No-Limit Hold’em), earning $105,405 in the process.

Perhaps the biggest story to come out of Harrah’s New Orleans was Event #7 $355 No-Limit Hold’em, which drew 646 players. That meant it was the biggest turnout for any poker tournament held in New Orleans since May 20, 2005. With a prize pool of $186,048 at stake, it was a familiar face in “Captain Tom” Franklin who emerged victorious and collected the $38,139 first-place prize. Franklin, a well-known professional, claimed his first WSOP-C ring, which will no doubt complement his 1999 WSOP bracelet.

There is still one ring event scheduled to be held after the Main Event, Event #10 $355 No-Limit Hold’em, but right now all eyes are on the Main Event. As always, you can catch our coverage of the Main Event by visiting our Live Reporting page. We’ll also be bringing you live updates from the $10,000 Regional Championship beginning on Thursday, May 19, 2011. In the meantime, you can find a summary of the ring events leading up to the Harrah’s New Orleans Main Event below.

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$55	473	$136,224

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	John Campbell	Baton Rouge, LA	$28,288
2	Adam Lippert	Brooklyn, NY	$18,108
3	Andrew Phillips	Palm Coast, FL	$13,228
4	Brett Tortorich	New Orleans, LA	$9,806
5	Kyle Cartwright	Bartlett, TN	$7,375
6	Doug Cox	Northport, AL	$5,626
7	Samuel Ansley	Southlake, TX	$4,352
8	Clint Schafer	Baton Rouge, LA	$3,415
9	Paul Vo	Austin, TX	$2,717

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #2 Mixed Pot Limit Omaha/Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$55	96	$27,648

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	John Holley	Destin, FL	$8,380
2	Dustin Wertz	New Orleans, LA	$5,179
3	David Nicholson	Perkinston, MS	$3,688
4	Michael Schneider	Covington, GA	$2,679
5	Doug Carli	Alliance, OH	$1,984
6	Jeff Winget	Belleville, IL	$1,498
7	Phillip Hui	San Antonio, TX	$1,152
8	Thomas Ryan Hopkins	San Antonio, TX	$902
9	David Clark	Dallas, TX	$719

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #3 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$55	312	$89,856

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Daniel [Removed:376]	Opelousas, LA	$21,116
2	Daniel Galindo	San Antonio, TX	$13,056
3	Mark Utterback	San Antonio, TX	$9,482
4	David Jackson	Jonesboro, GA	$7,004
5	Randy Gordon	N/A	$5,258
6	Kyle Caslin	Saint Charles, MO	$4,010
7	Richard Keranen	Denham Springs, LA	$3,106
8	Lance Reine	N/A	$2,442
9	Lance Honeycutt	N/A	$1,948

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #4 No Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$55	423	$121,824

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Brian Walsingham	Winston, GA	$26,801
2	Lyle Walker	Denham Springs, LA	$16,561
3	William Putmeyer	Hampton Cove, AL	$12,102
4	Nhu Nguyen	Houston, TX	$8,985
5	Charlie Cibula	River Forest, IL	$6,775
6	Eric Witmer	Gonzales, LA	$5,186
7	Nicholas Ceci	Peachtree City, GA	$4,027
8	Jeremy Swanson	St. Amant, LA	$3,172
9	Kenny Milam	Laplace, LA	$2,533

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #5 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$500+$65	293	$140,640

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Zhen Cai	Lakeworth, FL	$33,753
2	AP Phahurat	Tulsa, OK	$20,859
3	Kennii Nguyen	Chicago, IL	$15,135
4	Dennis Crowley	Pearland, TX	$11,166
5	Mario Silvestri	Colleyville, TX	$8,375
6	Ly Do	San Antonio, TX	$6,382
7	Richard Read	Picayune, MS	$4,939
8	John Ross	Niagara, Falls, NY	$3,881
9	Alex Maturi	Oak Park, IL	$4,939

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #6 Pot Limit Omaha

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$500+$65	101	$48,480

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Walter Wright	Las Vegas, NV	$14,544
2	Cory Wood	Murfreesboro, TN	$8,989
3	Mark Thoennes	Greenville, SC	$6,400
4	Trey Brabham	Austin, TX	$4,649
5	Nick Jivkov	Des Plaines, IL	$3,444
6	Daniel Galindo	San Antonio, TX	$2,599
7	James Lee	Yukon, OK	$1,999
8	Phil Ngo	Oklahoma City, OK	$1,566
9	Gregory Douglas	Tulsa, OK	$1,248

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #7 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$55	646	$186,048

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	“Captian” Tom Franklin	Gulfport, MS	$38,139
2	Lawrence Wayne	Houston, TX	$23,600
3	Joel Merwick	Lincoln, NE	$17,309
4	Johnathan Westra	Gainesville, FL	$12,872
5	Ryan Bradley Freeman	Katy, TX	$9,702
6	George Menia	Baton Rouge, LA	$7,410
7	Trent Temples	Bogalusa, LA	$5,734
8	Mark Lindley	Katy, TX	$4,494
9	Abel Hinojosa	Houston, TX	$3,568

WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #8 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$1,000+$85	356	$341,760

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Brian Walsingham	Winston, GA	$78,604
2	Lawrence Wayne	Houston, TX	$48,594
3	Allie Prescott	Las Vegas, NV	$35,450
4	Anthony Prusac	Houston, TX	$26,295
5	Paul Odum	Canton, GA	$19,808
6	Dan Schmiech	Houston, TX	$15,150
7	Loc Van Nguyen	Houston, TX	$11,758
8	Eli Loewenthal	Carmel, IN	$7,759
9	Yong An	Las Vegas, NV	$6,005